A/N - Watched the last episode for Psycho-Pass. I feel depressed now. I also realized that there's a serious lack of GinozaAkane fics out there. So enjoy!

Warning: This story contains some spoilers for the last episode.

Standing before the gravestone, he carefully lay down the bouquet of yellow and white lilies and a bottle of whiskey.

"I'm back again Dad," Ginoza began. He smiled as he stroked the edge of the gravestone with his right hand, feeling the rough surface with his fingertips. "Can you believe that it's been one year now?"

Memories of that day played in his mind. Trapped under rubble with his left arm crushed, Makishima's sneering look, his Father's desperate cry when he ran to save him. The final words that he left him echoing in his ears.

"It's been a while since I last came to visit. I feel bad for always dragging Inspector Tsunemori with me each time. She never seems to mind though. And besides..." he paused, looking at the arrangement of white roses laying beside his bouquet of lilies. "It seems she's already paid you a visit before me. Considerate girl isn't she?"

He stood there before the grave in a moment of silence, with only the sound of the cool breeze accompanying him. "I suppose there isn't really much for me to say. Working as an Enforcer isn't all that much different from the time I was still an Inspector. Just less responsibilities. And a lot more free time."

Slowly, he lifted up his gloved left hand and held it towards the grave. "I've gotten used to this arm now. It still feels a bit strange to me at times, but I suppose that it isn't that bad. I even tried painting the other day. I came to realize that artistic talent isn't genetically inheritable." He chuckled.

Pausing to gather his thoughts, a small frown formed on his lips. With a small sigh he began again, "Kogami is still missing. After a year we still have no leads on his whereabouts. That isn't much of a surprise. I'm sure that idiot is doing fine out there somewhere.

"And Inspector Tsunemori is..." he stopped speaking once again. He wasn't sure what he wanted to say. His thoughts about her was a jumbled mess and putting them into words was a challenge. "She's doing fine, I suppose. The same as always, but... different from before."

He groaned to himself and mussed his hair. "What I mean is she's changed from before. Even you had noticed it the day you died. Something about her changed that time, and it worries me."

Shaking his head from side to side, he wondered to himself why he was even trying to explain this to someone that could no longer give him answers. Probably because he had no one else he could confide to about this. "It feels as if her expressions are more forced than before. As if the expressions on her face are more of a mask at times to hide what she really feels.

"She's become a reliable woman. Strong and tough. She treats the Enforcers as fellow colleagues, does her work with a sense of professionalism. She smiles and laughs. But... there's that slight shadow beneath it all.

"Although she fulfills her duties as an Inspector, at times it feels as if there's something else she's striving to achieve. A message she's trying to spread to those around her. After each investigation she would smile reassuringly to us all, Enforcers and her Inspector partner. Congratulate us on a job well done in protecting our society. She would be smiling but I could sense... disappointment? As if she was waiting for something. An expectation she had."

He clenched his jaw tightly and closed his eyes. His fingers pinched his burrowed brows. "I'm not even sure what it is I want to say. She seems more closed off. Guarded. Whatever it is that's bothering her, she keeps it to herself. Maybe because she felt betrayed by Kogami? Who knows. Although, I feel that if that guy was still around she would probably open up to him." He smiled bitterly at the thought.

"Sorry Dad. I came to visit you for your death anniversary and here I am going on about Tsunemori. I guess I really am a terrible son." He ran his fingers over the gravestone once more, his expression relaxing into a more gentle smile. "I should get going now. Shouldn't keep her waiting for too long. I'll come again."

Taking one last look at the grave, he turned to make his way back down to the car and the waiting Inspector. He walked at a brisk, even pace trying to sort all the thoughts crossing through his mind. He could see her and the car in the distance.

Over the course of a year as an Enforcer, he felt that he had grown closer to Tsunemori than the time he spent with her as an Inspector. Although, compared to the relationship she shared with Kogami he could feel that she kept a certain distance from all the Enforcers now. Including himself. It was a disappointing thought but not surprising.

That idiot left her in tears. He remembered the sight of her eyes, red and swollen. The ghost of the trail of tears running down her flushed cheeks. But she never voiced her cries. Anyone could see the pain that Kogami caused her, but her actions never betrayed her true feelings. She continued on with her life, burying the sorrow she carried away from the eyes of others.

"Welcome back, Ginoza-san. Did the two of you have a good talk?" she asked. She smiled her reassuring smile. And he could see it again. That slight shadow beneath the smile.

He stood staring at her intensely, his narrowed sharp green eyes examining her every expression. His lips pursed tightly together. He could only wonder, just what could it be? What burden was hiding beneath that smile?

When he didn't reply, her eyebrows arched upwards in confusion, the smile still on her lips. "Um, Ginoza-san? Are you ok?"

Without a word in response he stepped closer to her, raising his right arm up in a smooth motion. And gently, so very gently he brushed the back of his index finger across the bottom of her left eye.

Her large eyes widened, her lips rounded and parted in surprise. "Ginoza-san?"

Remaining silent, he delicately cupped her cheek with his hand, searching her face noting every detail he could see. The light wrinkles between her brows. The small shadows beneath her eyes. Her pale skin, cool beneath his touch. And he thought he could feel it. The past tears that she did not shed, trailing down her cheeks. The heat of each drop burning into the palm of his hand.

His soft touch and searching gaze must have caught her off guard. But despite his actions, she did not pull away. Her brown eyes softened and the smile returned to her lips. Her hands reached up and gently cupped his cheeks in return. Her clear brown eyes gazing into his.

Their eyes focused only on each other, never straying away.

Moments passed in silence.

Was it wrong of him to think that it wasn't fair? The whirlwind of emotions she should have felt, the overflowing amount of tears she should have shed, were all for the sake of a single man that left her behind.

Finally, he let out a light laugh. "You look tired, Inspector," he said. His hand caressed her cheek once before pulling back. She let go as well.

"Thank you for the concern, Ginoza-san," she replied.

Their eyes finally parted as they wordlessly returned to the car, ready to drive back to the Bureau.

It was a quiet ride, not a word spoken between the two of them. Surely, she was lost in her own thoughts. What it could be, he would probably never know.

He gazed out the car window, aimlessly watching the scenery speed by. Smiling to himself he realized, for that short moment the slight shadow beneath her smile wasn't there. It was warm, true. He clenched his right hand tightly.

He could still feel the heat of the tears she didn't shed. It burned like fire, leaving scorch marks that would never fade.